Qatar real estate boom to continue, says WTC official  

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Chadi Abou Daher, Regional Manager of World Trade Center, welcomed the delegates attending the Qatar Property Investment Forum held here on Monday and Tuesday. World Trade Center was the host of the event.

Daher highlighted the fact that Qatar has emerged as one of the most attractive real estate markets and hoped that the forum would be a yearly platform offering insights into the latest trends emerging in he Gulf region and Qatar in particular.

In his address to the gathering during the opening session, Said Bahjat Said, President of 'The Land Holding', said that the Forum has come at a time when the property Market is enjoying immense growth and the prospects looked reassuring.

He stressed on the importance of embracing the best international practices and standards and playing a key role in shaping the future of our region.

Elaborating on the sustainability of real estate market, Molad Elia, Manager Real Estate, Kuwait Financial Center(MARKAZ), mentioned that demand for real estate has been soaring.

This in turn will sustain the growth at least till 2010 before which the existing demand will not be even met. The demand for housing has risen by 27 per cent in the last year and in the office market the vacancy level is only one per cent.

In the hospitality sector, the demand is still high showing around 70 per cent occupancy. All in all the sustainability of the growth is high and it should remain so for the next five years.

Chris Filinos, Vice-President, Head of Real Estate MENA, Merrill Lynch International, stressed the need for property indices to help investors decide where to invest. He also talked about providing international standards to the Real estates Investment Trusts who do a lot of investing in different parts of the world.

The panel session was followed by a presentation on Tarfeeh Entertainment City which will be coming up soon. A Water front development, Tarfeeh city will be a place where families, visitors, residents and tourists meet to experience a blend of the old and the new.